NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5441
SPONSOR: Quart TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, the general business law,
the insurance law and the judiciary law, in relation to recognizance
procedures and bail reform; and to repeal certain provisions of such
laws and of the penal law relating thereto
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To end cash bail in New York State.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 is the legislative intent.
Section 2 amends the title heading of title P of the criminal procedure
law.
Section 3 amends the article heading of article 500 of the criminal
procedure law. Section 4 amends section 500.10 of the criminal procedure
law.
Section 5 repeals several subdivisions of section 500.10 of the criminal
procedure law. Section 6 amends the article heading of article 510 of
the criminal procedure law Section .7 amends subdivision 1 of section
510.10 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 8 amends subdivision 4 of section 510.10 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 9 adds a new subdivision 7 to section 510.10 of the
criminal procedure law. Section 10 amends section 510.20 of the criminal
procedure law.
Section 11 adds sections 510.25, 510.26 and 510.27 to the criminal
procedure law.
Section 12 amends subdivision 1 of section 510.30 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 13 amends section 510.40 of the criminal procedure
law.
Section 14 amends subdivision 1 of section 510.50 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 15 adds a new section 510.60 to the criminal procedure law.
Section 16 repeals articles 520 and 540 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 17 amends the article heading of article 530 of the criminal
procedure law. Section 18 amends the section heading of section 530.10
of the criminal procedure law. Section 19 amends subdivision 1 of
section 530.12 of the criminal procedure law. Section 20 amends subdivi-
sion 9 of section 530.12 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 21 amends subdivision 11 of section 530.12 of the criminal
procedure law. Section 22 amends subdivision 8 of section 530.13 of the
criminal procedure law. Section 23 amends subdivision 1 of section
530.20 of the criminal procedure law. Section 24 amends section 530.30
of the criminal procedure law.
Section 25 amends section 530.40 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 26 amends the section heading subdivision 1 of section 530.45 of
the criminal procedure law.
Section 27 amends subdivision 2-a of section 530.45 of the criminal
procedure law. Section 28 amends subdivision 6 of section 530.45 of the
criminal procedure law. Section 29 amends section 530.50 of the criminal
procedure law.
Section 30 amends section 530.60 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 31 amends the section heading of section 530.70 of the criminal
procedure law. Section 32 repeals section 530.80 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 33 amends subdivision 2 of section 30.30 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 34 amends subdivision 4 of section 30.30 of the crimi-
nal procedure law. Section 35 amends subdivision 3 of section 120.90 of
the criminal procedure law.
Section 36 amends subdivision 4 of section 120.90 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 37 amends subdivision 6 of section 120.90 of the crim-
inal procedure law. Section 38 amends subdivision 2 of section 140.20 of
the criminal procedure law. Section 39 amends subdivision 3 of section
140.20 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 40 amends subdivision 3 of section 140.40 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 41 amends subdivision 2 of section 150.20 of the crim-
inal procedure law. Section 42 amends subdivision 2 of section 150.75 of
the criminal procedure law. Section 43 amends the section heading of
section 170.10 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 44 amends subdivision 7 of section 170.10 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 45 amends subdivision 2 of section 170.25 of the crim-
inal procedure law. Section 46 amends subdivision 3 of section 170.50 of
the criminal procedure law. Section 47 amends the section heading of
section 180.10 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 48 amends subdivision 6 of section 180.10 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 49 amends subdivision 4 of section 180.70 of the crim-
inal procedure law. Section 50 amends subdivision 2 of section 190.74 of
the criminal procedure law. Section 51 amends subdivision 2 of section
210.10 of the criminal procedure law. Section 52 amends the section
heading of section 210.15 of the criminal procedure law. Section 53
amends subdivision 6 of section 210.15 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 54 amends subdivision 8 of section 210.45 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 55 amends subdivision 9 of section 210.45 of the crim-
inal procedure law.
Section 56 amends subdivision 6 of section 216.04 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 57 amends subdivision 9 of section 216.05 of the crim-
inal procedure law.
Section 58 amends subdivision 4 of section 290.10 of the criminal proce-
dure law. Section 59 amends subdivision 1 of section 330.10 of the crim-
inal procedure law. Section 60 amends subdivision 3 of section 330.20 of
the criminal procedure law. Section 61 amends section 410.60 of the
criminal procedure law.
Section 62 amends subdivision 1 of section 410.70 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 63 repeals paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 420.10 of
the criminal procedure law.
Section 64 amends subdivision 1 of section 460.50 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 65 amends subdivision 6 of section 460.50 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 66 amends subdivision 1 of section 460.60 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 67 amends section 470.75 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 68 amends subdivision 2 of section 550.10 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 69 amends section 570.36 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 70 repeals section 570.38 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 71 amends section 570.40 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 72 repeals section 570.42 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 73 amends section 570.52 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 74 amends subdivision 2 of section 570.54 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 75 amends section 570.56 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 76 amends section 620.10 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 77 amends subdivision 2 of section 620.40 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 78 amends section 620.50 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 79 amends section 620.60 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 80 amends section 620.70 of the criminal procedure law.
Section 81 amends subdivision 3 of section 640.10 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 82 amends subdivision 5 of section 705.00 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 83 amends subdivision 3 of section 722.20 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 84 amends subdivision 3 of section 722.21 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 85 amends subdivision 2 of section 730.20 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 86 amends subdivision 1 of section 730.50 of the criminal proce-
dure law.
Section 87 amends subdivision 1 of section 70 of the general business
law.
Section 88 amends section 70-a of the general business law.
Section 89 repeals subdivisions 1-a and 4 of section 71 of the general
business law.
Section 90 amends section 72 of the general business law.
Section 91 repeals subdivisions 1-a and 1-b of section 72 of the general
business law.
Section 92 amends subdivision 1 of section 73 of the general business
law.
Section 93 amends subdivision 1 of section 74 of the general business
law.
Section 94 repeals section 74-a of the general business law.
Section 95 amends section 80 of the general business law.
Section 96 amends subdivision 1 of section 81 of the general business
law.
Section 97 amends section 83 of the general business law.
Section 98 amends subdivision 1 of section 84 of the general business
law.
Section 99 repeals subsection (a) of section 1107 of the insurance law.
Section 100 repeals article 68 of the insurance law.
Section 101 repeals paragraph (j) of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the
judiciary law.
Section 102 amends section 481 of the judiciary law.
Section 103 repeals paragraph 2 of subdivision A of section 753 of the
judiciary law.
Section 104 amends section 798 of the judiciary law.
Section 105 repeals section 215.55, 215.56 and 215.57 of the penal law.
Section 106 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The current bail system in New York State has failed New Yorkers. Each
year, thousands of New Yorkers are incarcerated prior to a criminal
trial simply because they cannot afford to pay bail, a situation that is
clearly the criminalization of poverty. Even though the vast majority of
defendants return to court and do not reoffend when released on their
own recognizance, poor New Yorkers who are accused of a crime are often
still incarcerated for the length of their trial or, more often, until
they agree to plead guilty. Regardless of actual guilt, defendants who
are subject to pre-trial detention for as little as 48 hours experience
an increased likelihood of rearrest, in addition to work, custody, hous-
ing and immigration consequences. Additionally, there is no correlation
between being able to afford bail and returning to court and not reof-
fending. There is no public safety rationale for maintaining our current
bail system.
Kalief Browder's story has become central to the fight for bail reform.
Kalief was 16 when he was falsely accused of stealing a backpack. He
spent three years waiting for trial on Rikers Island, mostly in solitary
confinement, because his family couldn't afford $3000 for bail. Eventu-
ally, charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence, but the damage was
already done. Two years after his release, after multiple suicide
attempts and several stays in a hospital psychiatric ward, Kalief Brow-
der died by suicide in his family's apartment.
This bill will end the practice of cash bail in New York State. It
requires every defendant to have a recognizance hearing within 48 hours
of arrest. In these recognizance hearings, both the prosecution and the
defense will present admissible evidence to the court to demonstrate
whether the defendant should be detained during the pre-trial period or
released. After the original determination is made, both the prosecution
and the defense can move to change the decision based on new evidence.
This bill also prohibits the use of risk assessment tools to make pre-
trial detention or release decisions. While these tools have been touted
by some as error-proofing the decision process, replacing a human deci-
sion with an algorithmic one requires careful investigation of the data
that is fed into the algorithm. In the case of a risk assessment tool,
the data includes racially biased criteria, including prior arrests and
convictions, employment history, and family status. As long as racially
biased data is used in a risk assessment tool's algorithm, the decisions
the algorithm renders will also be racially biased.
This bill will provide clear guidance to the court regarding recogni-
zance decisions, while also allowing the court to be responsible to
changes in the situation or new information arising during the pretrial
period. Most importantly, it will finally end the criminalization of
poverty that exists under our current bail system and reassure New York-
ers that in our court system, justice is no longer for sale.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-2018: A8820 referred to Codes. 2019-2020: A1359 referred to Codes.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
